California outlaws maliciously impersonating others online

Those who impersonate others with the intent of intimidating or harming them …

If you live in California and make a habit of posing as others online, you might want to think twice. In an attempt to cut down on cyberbullying, California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a new law that makes such an action a misdemeanor. The law specifically targets those acting maliciously, but critics worry that those who do it in jest or for activism could be targeted too easily.

Originally introduced by senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) in February of this year, the bill (SB 1411) makes it a crime to falsely and "credibly" impersonate someone in either a private or official capacity. The action must be for the purpose of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding the person in question, and the penalties would include a fine of up to $1,000 and up to one year in jail. In addition to criminal penalties, the accused personator may also face civil actions brought on behalf of the victim.

The bill was passed unanimously and, according to Simitian, is meant to bring California's 1872 impersonation law up to date with the brave new world of social networking. "E-personation is the dark side of the social networking revolution. It’s quick. It’s easy. And it’s a misuse of the technology," Simitian said in a statement. "A 19th century law is no deterrent for 21st century impersonators. A new law is needed to address this form of harassment."

The purpose of such a law is to discourage people such as the "MySpace mom," accused of impersonating a teenage boy online whose bullying eventually led to another teen's suicide, as well as a woman who posted a fake Casual Encounters ad on Craigslist impersonating a 17-year-old girl with whom the woman had an Internet argument. There was also a case where a group of teenagers posed as one of their peers on Facebook. They represented him as a sexually obscene racist and amassed hundreds of "friends" as if he were running the profile himself, which the targeted teen believed had turned off college recruiters.

The law goes into effect at the beginning of 2011, and critics say it could have a chilling effect on free speech. A group that does impersonations of corporations for the purpose of activism, Yes Men, told IDG that "political cronies" could use the law to attack those trying to expose information to the public through parody. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has also expressed concern that such a law could easily be used to "squelch political speech" and described the bill as "dangerous."

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui